Hometeam Mid-Wach Basketball: Wachusett has right bloodlines

Listening to Wachusett Regional boys' basketball coach Tom Gibbons talk about his current crop of Mountaineers is almost like poring through a veritable “Who's Who of Worcester Basketball.”

The hoop lineage, starting with the coach and running through many of his players, makes this a pedigree that is bound to have success.

That's why it's not surprising that Wachusett, No. 1 in the most recent Hometeam poll, is off to an 11-1 start and leads Mid-Wach A with a 6-0 record.

For Gibbons, who grew up as a kid watching his legendary father, Bill Gibbons Sr., win 373 career games coaching at Doherty High, the experience for all of his players goes well beyond what they've learned on the court.

“I was hanging around a gym when I was 5 or 6 years old, sitting on the end of the bench and watching my brother's (Bill Jr.) teams play at Doherty when I was the ball boy,” he remembered. “Basketball has always been a big part of my life.

“Everything (at Wachusett) somehow goes back to Worcester basketball in a sense. Those connections are cool.”

For example, there is his senior co-captain, Zack Berman, whose dad, Bobby Berman, played for the elder Gibbons at Doherty in the early 1970s before he secured a spot as a walk-on at UMass.

Then there's 6-foot-5 sophomore Justin Bowker. His dad, Stan Bowker, played for Ken Kaufman at WPI and was an opponent of Gibbons while the current Wachusett coach played at Clark University.

Or freshman Tyler Dion, who is part of a three-generation basketball connection. His grandfather, Alan Dion, has coached in the AAU for the past 40 years and is one of the Mountaineers' assistant coaches. Tyler's dad, Chris Dion, played his college ball at Anna Maria under Paul Phillips.

“Paul came to one of our games to recruit some of our players for Anna Maria and he said it was like going back 20 years in time watching Tyler play,” Gibbons said, echoing Phillips' words. “He said he plays exactly like his father.”

Today, Chris Dion is one of the top basketball referees in Central Mass.

Let's not forget Gibbons' older brother, Billy Gibbons, who is in his 28th season as head coach of the Holy Cross women's basketball team and still manages to call his kid brother once or twice a week to give his two cents' worth.

A recent loss to South High did little to deter Wachusett, and Gibbons was quick to grasp it as a teaching moment.

“We've had great leadership in good times, and now we'll have to get great leadership with a little adversity,” he said.

Gibbons was quick to point to the play of his squad's two captains — 6-6 senior Alex Cooper and six-foot senior Berman — each of whom is averaging 12 points a game, as catalysts of the team's early success.

“We had a really great start and the kids have really bought into it,” he said. “It's really a player-coached team, which is always better than a coach-coached team. A lot of these kids have been playing varsity for three and four years, so they really have a lot of experience.”

Senior Jesse Maresca also has averaged around 12 points a game, while senior Zack Knapp and sophomore Jeremiah Perez also add some scoring punch.

“We have a lot of young kids mixed with senior veterans,” said Gibbons, who also acknowledged the contributions of senior Trevor MacNeil, juniors Brad Durkin, Pat Meyers and Brendan Quinn, sophomore Kevin Durkin and freshman Ryan McCarthy.

The Mountaineers have qualified for the postseason in 11 of the past 12 years, but haven't won a district championship since 2004.

Bryan Riley, one of Gibbons' assistant coaches, was a member of that championship squad as the sophomore point guard. Al Dion and Chris O'Donnell are also members of the coaching staff.

And if Gibbons needs any more inspiration, his dad still keeps the book at all the Wachusett games.

“Oh, yeah, and he still gives me feedback, whether it's solicited or not, at each game,” Gibbons said, adding with a laugh, “But it's nice having him around and being a part of it as well.”

Last week, a first occurred in the history of the T&G's Hometeam poll.

For the first time ever, the boys' and girls' basketball teams and the hockey team from the same school — Wachusett — were chosen No. 1.

And while the hockey and boys' basketball teams remained in the top spot this week, the girls tumbled into third place following a pair of losses to highly ranked Algonquin Regional, now No. 1, and Holy Name, now No. 2.

However, the sudden two-game snag was not a big concern for Wachusett coach Jim Oxford, whose youthful team has exceeded most of his early expectations.

“We're happy,” he said. “We've got a very young team — young by grade level, but we're also young in terms of experience.”

The Mountaineers captured the Central Mass. Division 1 championship last season, but no players on the current roster have more than one year of varsity experience.

“We knew going in we'd have some challenges, but I think we're really surprised at how well we did in the first 10 games of the year,” Oxford said. “The girls are working hard. They feel like they have a lot to prove.”

A pair of sophomores, Maty Diabate and Rachel Aho, who are each averaging 11 points a game, carry the one-two punch.

“Maty is so explosive and athletic, while Rachel is an excellent rebounder and shoots well,” Oxford said.

Looking to rotate his players without using a traditional starting five, Oxford has had the luxury of relying on many players to make contributions.

“There are some games when we play 10 players in the first quarter, so we have the chance to give a lot of kids good experience,” Oxford said. “If someone goes down, we have players who are experienced and can step right in.”